Luke whispered "whoa" under his breath as he headed home, highly satisfied with his "date by the book."
"Wait, what was that? Did I just agree to go out on a date with Luke?" Lorelai asked herself. "Was tonight a date?" No answer came. She did know one thing, though, it was too early for this "whatever it was" to end.
Lorelai ran across the grass to the sidewalk and followed Luke, who had moved quickly, energized by his success with his dream girl. Going across the grass her footsteps were silent, but when she started running on the sidewalk, her heels tapped loudly enough for Luke to hear, but he had no reaction.
At the last streetlight Lorelai stopped and called his name. He turned, saw her standing in a pool of light, flushed, breathing hard. She extended her arm, palm down, as if she wanted him to take her hand.
He moved quickly to her side, much quicker than when he left. Trying to keep his own excitement under control, he focused on her hand as he took it in his own. Gently rubbing his finger over her knuckles, he looked up at Lorelai, tenderness showing in his expression. His face broadened into a smile that crinkled around his eyes.
Her pulse raced, his look was simply devastating. How could this be the same person who complained while he served her breakfast this morning?
"Come sit with me on the porch for a little while," she said, "Let's have a beer or something."
"O-kay" he drew the word out a little.
They went up the steps and she guided him to the wicker settee.
Lorelai stumbled over her own words in her haste to get them out. "Something to drink? I have beer, I think, or wine, or maybe water. I could make some tea if you like?"
Stepping to the door, she twisted her fingers together, then furiously pulled them apart, shaking the tension out of her hands. "Hold this together, Gilmore, it's just Luke," she cautioned herself.
She opened the door and turned back to him, shielding herself from whatever it was that was making her act like an idiot.
"A beer would be great," answered Luke, looking at her with warmth in his eyes. He rearranged his jacket and settled more comfortably on the settee.
In the house Lorelai went straight to the kitchen and leaned up against the wall, feeling the cool, sturdy support at her back. Slightly recovered, she grabbed two beer from the fridge and went back outside.
Outside, Luke had taken the extra pillows and fluffed them for her. She sat next to him and crossed her legs, then handed him his beer. He took a very long draft, glad for a moment of familiarity in this world, sitting next to Lorelai, whose face he had seen when he fantasized about exactly these moments.
Swinging her leg nervously, Lorelai spoke. "So…" Even though she could feel the silence hanging there, heavy, she said nothing more.
His elbows rested on his knees, both hands wrapped around the beer bottle, he turned his head toward her and said, "Thanks for the beer. It's nice." Pause. "So…?"
"Nice?"
"Nice. Good beer. " Luke began to relax a little as he started to realize Lorelai was more nervous than he was. He smiled at her, letting her feel the moment. He sat back, laid his arm across the back of the settee and turned to face her. Her arms were crossed in her lap, and her foot was swinging a little too fast.
No way out now, she thought, better to just jump. "So, um, this was a nice date," she said, lowering her eyes and looking at her hands before looking at him. Unseen to her, his face lit up, pleasure visible in his eyes.
"Right? It was a date, right?" She repeated the affirmative words, hoping to get the same answer in return. She held her breath.
His eyes crinkled again. "Right. I've been looking forward to this date since you accepted my invitation."
Lorelai exhaled and flashed him her million dollar smile, albeit still a little nervous.
She pulled off her shoes, leaned back in her corner of the settee. Pulling her feet up and tucking them underneath her skirt, she knew suddenly where she was – in date mode. Date mode with Luke was definitely not the standard date mode, but there was a certain thrill.
"A date. Now that could be a problem, don't you think?" she asked, a spark of humor in her eye.
Luke, missing the spark, replied, "No, I don't see it. There were no problems tonight. What problems do you see?" He shifted uncomfortably, wondering what he'd missed.
"Do you remember when we discussed our dating skills, you know, the night Rory played in Romeo and Juliet at Chilton? We kinda both recognized that we don't really have this dating thing down, remember?" Lorelai's face grew warm, remembering that moment. She touched her cheek with cold fingers.
"True, but a little more experience has improved things, don't you think?" asked Luke. "Don't forget, we also have our promise: we'll always be there for each other. I'll always be there for you, you'll always be there for me, in my life, permanently, forever."
He bent forward and pondered his shoes, while Lorelai stared at the front yard, thinking, "Wow. Sure sounds a lot different when he says it."
Gathering herself together, Lorelai nodded, saying, "Good. Now starts date mode, OK?"
"Date mode? What the hell is date mode?" he chuckled. "Sure, why not. Show me what 'date mode' is. Have I done it right so far?"
"Definitely yes, your date mode performance has exceeded all expectations. Gold star for you, maybe another photo up at Stars Hollow High," her smile twinkled.
"Alright, the basics of date mode are easy," said Lorelai. "First, do something both of you can enjoy."
Luke replied, "The wedding – you got a break from the inn, dressed up a little fruity, nice outfit, by the way, we mocked the renaissance crowd, and we danced. Sounds like we achieved the first goal." He relaxed back onto the settee, adjusting his pants to keep the crease sharp, moving a little closer to Lorelai.
Lorelai continued, "Second, take some time to get to know each other."
"Not necessary. We've known each other for eight years. "
"Yes necessary. We know each other as friends, not as er, um, NOT friends." Lorelai started to feel uncomfortable.
"You date 'not friends'?" Luke asked, eyes squinting.
"Not 'not friends,' you're dating someone you might want to have a relationship with," interjected Lorelai.
"I see," said Luke, "we already have a relationship. We've had a relationship for eight years, AND it's gotten better each year."
"Not just a relationship, a- a- a permanent relationship!"
"Didn't we just agree we have a permanent relationship?" Luke was grinning.
"Oh you drive me crazy! You just want me to say it, don't you!" Lorelai pounded her fist on the arm of the settee.
A delighted laugh fell from his lips. "OK, my turn, I'll let you off the hook," he said.
Lorelai was still pouting.
Luke continued. "I go with my gut. If my gut says it's right, it is right. This evening, it felt right. I'm totally comfortable with you, and I had a great time. No 'date mode,' no labels, just us. It's that simple." Luke paused. "What does your gut tell you?"
"Hey, my gut ran down the street and brought you back here. The one thing I knew when you left was that I wasn't ready to say goodnight." She folded her arms across her chest and gave him a mock challenging stare.
Luke stared back, disconcerted. "O-kay. Round one, Lorelai."
He reached for her and pulled her closer. One hand around her waist, he reached over and fingered a stray curl.
"Seems to me there's only first date thing left to try," he said tenderly, as he leaned over and kissed her.
Lorelai put her hands on Luke's cheeks and kissed him back, deepening the kiss as she threaded her fingers into his hair. She broke the kiss just long enough to whisper, "Round two, Luke."
They eventually came up for air and decided to go find another beer.
"You said earlier that things are going better with Jess?" Lorelai asked, making conversation.
"Better than he was when he lived here. He's gotten a job as a courier, which isn't much, but he's at least showing some responsibility. I'm pretty proud that he came here for his mom's wedding. Do you know he even gave me a telephone number? I can actually call him."
"Well, you should be proud. Not only did you go to New York and get him to come to the wedding, but it sounds like some of the good things you tried to teach him sank in. That's a lot to be proud of." Lorelai clinked bottles with Luke, drank and she played with the edge of his jacket as they stood side by side, leaning up against the counter.
Luke had his arm around Lorelai's shoulder and was smoothing her hair with his hand when he noticed the back door standing slightly open.
"What's that? Did you leave the door open? What were you thinking?" He grumbled. He walked over to the door and discovered the keys were still in the lock.
"I was thinking I can't get the key out," said Lorelai. "It's no big deal," she continued, disappointed that he'd broken their hug.
"It is a big deal, it needs to be fixed." Luke jiggled the keys and twisted the knob and after a few seconds the keys came out. "Here. Call me to replace the lock if it happens again." He closed the back door.
"Luke, enough of Mr. Fixit, we're on a date. You are not going to spend the evening fixing things. Let's go back to the porch." Lorelai wove her fingers through his and guided him towards the door. Luke put the keys on the table, picked up their beer bottles and followed willingly.
Lorelai picked up a quilt off the chair in the foyer and carried it outside. She wrapped it around herself as she settled in place on the settee. She bent her knees and tucked her bare feet under Luke's wool-clad thigh as he took his place beside her.
"OK, we're back to our date," he said. "What now?"
"Well, on a first date, we have to present ourselves in the best light possible. For example, instead of 'talks incessantly' I'm an 'open communicator.'" Lorelai grinned at Luke as he snorted derisively.
"Instead of being Monosyllabic Man, you are …"
"Succinct, concise. Pithy."
"Yes! You've got it!" She laughed out loud and put her hand on Luke's as he caressed her knees through the quilt.
"On a first date, I'm not weirdly connected to my daughter, but committed to parenting. You aren't the Euell Gibbons of the new millennium, but …"
"Euell Gibbons? Where did you get that?" Luke laughed.
"Oh, Jess brought it up one day when we were bonding."
"Jess? Jess told you I was the Euell Gibbons of the new millennium?"
"Not quite. He said, 'Euell Gibbons wasn't a healthy eater like Luke.'" Luke roared with laughter.
"OK, let's go with healthy eater," Luke said. "Dresses fruity?"
"Creative fashion sense. Backwards baseball cap and flannel shirt?"
"Casual dresser. Compulsively participates in every Stars Hollow festival?"
"Active in her community. Makes countless repairs on his friend's house before she even knows they are needed?
"Neighborly. Helps out with his uncle's funeral?"
"Loyal," said Lorelai.
"Goes above and beyond the call of friendship," corrected Luke.
"Takes in his sister's kid without hesitating and asks for nothing in return?" prompted Lorelai.
"Crazy."
"Luke … try again."
"Believes in strong family relationships. Built her own inn?"
"A hard worker with a good mentor. Built a chuppah?" Lorelai looked at Luke through her eyelashes, remembering the moment.
"Likes woodworking."
"Close, but no cigar. Did I ever say thank you for the chuppah?" Lorelai pulled her legs down off the settee and slid over to Luke, putting her hand on his jaw and kissing him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Did I ever thank you for the baseball cap? Thank you." Kissed back.
"I'm sure I forgot to thank you for getting the key out of my door. Thank you." Kiss.
"You took over the diner work while I arranged Louie's funeral. Thank you." Kiss.
"You made me soup when I had a cold. Thank you." Kiss.
"You defended Jess at that town meeting. Thank you." Kiss.
"You taught me how to start a business. Thank you." Kiss.
"You gave me flowers last Thanksgiving. Thank you." Kiss.
"You lent me your truck. Thank you." Kiss.
"Barbie Band-Aid." Kiss.
"Finding Rory's chick." Kiss.
The gratitude continued until there was nothing left but the kissing.
Luke finally pulled away. "If we want the second date to be as good as the first, we'd better save something."
"Second dates are never as good as the first. It's hopeless." Lorelai brushed away imaginary dirt from his shoulder.
"So we should lower our expectations for the next date?" he asked.
"Oh, no, the only way to make sure the second date is bad is to have too-high expectations," Lorelai explained.
"We have to plan our second date to be better than a Renaissance wedding, dressing fruity, dancing and hours spent necking on the front porch? And do all of this knowing it will be disappointing, no matter how hard we try?"
"Don't forget the waltz. The waltz was a critical success factor, and yes, you now have the challenge to outdo yourself on our second date." She smiled at him teasingly.
"Sounds like a lot of work to do something that we know we're going to not enjoy as much. Wouldn't it be easier to just plan a disappointing second date from the start?"
"Tell you what, give that a try and I'll let you know if it worked."
"Good, I'll think of something. Now I need to go, the diner opens in just a few hours." Luke stood up, pulled Lorelai to her feet as she played rag doll, not wanting the moment to end.
Lorelai sighed, wrapping her arms around Luke's waist. "Back to the inn tomorrow for me. We are so close, but there's still so much to do. Every Chinese person in the world. That's my list."
"How about if you give me a call before you come to the diner tomorrow and I'll fix you a special breakfast. You are coming to the diner tomorrow, right?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world. It's fun watching sleepy Luke turn into grumpy Luke when I place my order. Do you still make that special omelet?"
"This dating thing isn't going to get you to cut me any slack, is it?" Luke began to see his future.
"Wait and see, my friend, wait and see."
Standing there, he took her hand as if they were about to dance again, then pulled it close to his chest. They swayed slowly, rotating on their own axis, until Luke tore himself away and made his way down the steps and across the grass.
The next morning, Jess was working in the diner when Lorelai called.
Surprised to hear Jess' voice, she said, "Hello? Jess?"
"Yeah. Hi Lorelai."
"Hi. Um…"
"Don't worry, I got it. He's still upstairs. I'll let him know you called. Any message?"
Disconcerted, Lorelai answered, "No, oh I mean yes! Let him know I'll be at the diner in about half an hour, OK? He wanted to know. Well, he said he wanted to know."
"He did, did he? Why is that?" he asked.
"Oh, you know, just one of those things we do. He promised he'd do something for me. That's Luke, always helping out a friend." answered Lorelai cagily.
"Promised he'd do something? Like what?" Jess asked, enjoying the torture he was inflicting. "A new dance step, perhaps? Or maybe a really really old dance step, like the oldest of all."
Cheeks burning, Lorelai responded, "Just tell him, would you please?"
"Let me make sure I've got the message right, OK?" Speaking loudly enough for Patty at a nearby table to hear, he continued. "You, Lorelai, want me to tell Luke that you'll be here in about half an hour because he promised he'd do something for you." He placed emphasis on the word 'do.' "Right?"
"Right, bye now, Jess, thanks a bunch," she replied with sarcasm in her voice.
Lorelai let her head sink onto her knees. This was going to be agonizing. Not only did Jess already know, but whoever was in the diner at that moment was surely going to bring in reinforcements. There'd be a full house by the time she got there.
Miss Patty called Jess over to her table. "What do you know? Did something happen after the wedding last night?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Jess with a half smile.
Patty arched an eyebrow. "My dear boy, you haven't messed with me yet. Everyone else in Stars Hollow are marshmallows compared to me. You saw the dance, and I saw the dance, and we both know what happened. There's no denying that, regardless of what Lorelai or Luke might say." Miss Patty looked Jess calmly in the eyes.
"Patty, I don't know what you're talking about. You're ready to pay and leave, right?" Jess countered.
"You silly, silly boy," she said, narrowing her eyes. "I'll have more coffee, thanks."
Jess went behind the curtain and bounded up the stairs. In the apartment, Luke was already awake and was on the sofa, drinking a cup of tea, his bare feet propped up on the coffee table. Something was in the oven which gave off a sweet smell.
"Luke."
Luke turned, laying his right arm over the back of the sofa. "Ah Jess. Something up?"
"Good question, maybe I should ask you the same thing."
"Jess." Luke was not pleased by the tone of Jess' voice.
"OK, OK, just wanted to let you know you got a call," said Jess. He watched Luke's face light up for a moment, then protectively close back down.
"Well, who was it? What did they want?" Luke tried to speak nonchalantly.
"It was Lorelai."
Luke began to get exasperated. "Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Did she leave a message?" growled Luke.
"Oh yeah, she said to tell you she'll be here in half an hour." Jess stared, expressionless, challenging Luke to speak.
Luke turned back around on the sofa "Good. Thanks for filling in for me this morning. Go downstairs and get some breakfast for yourself. I'll be down in a little while."
"Nah, it's looking kinda busy at the moment, I'll help out until the rush dies down."
After Jess left the apartment, Luke began to get ready. He checked the oven, then pulled the baking sheet out and laid it on the sink to cool. He shaved, using just a touch of aftershave, then looked in his closet. "No, no, no, no, no. Hmm." He pulled out a dress shirt that Lorelai had bought him a few years ago. "Where are those black pants?" he wondered. He pulled them out, put them on with the shirt, looked down, and immediately said, "No. Too much. It's breakfast, for God's sake, not a cocktail party."
Back to the closet. "Something more casual. No, no, no, this is getting ridiculous." He grabbed a pair of jeans and put them on. "Not enough." He reached for a newer pair of jeans, darker than the rest. "OK, that'll do."
Lorelai stared at her closet. Which outfits did Luke tell her he liked? Rory said he flirted with me lots of times. What was I wearing then? She grabbed the phone and called her.
"Hi Mom."
"What was I wearing the last time Luke flirted with me?" she asked hurriedly.
"When who did what? Luke? Oh, geez, how am I supposed to remember that? I'm busy studying, can you call back later, Mom?"
"I just need to have one outfit that I was wearing when Luke flirted with me. Don't you remember when that happened?"
"Mom, Luke has flirted with you numerous times. I didn't keep track of all of them."
"Well when was the last time?"
"I don't know, Mom, get a grip on yourself."
"Rory, do you remember any outfit he liked?"
"Eww, Mom, why are you asking these questions?"
"I think I'm dating Luke. I'm supposed to meet him at the diner in half an hour."
"You THINK you're dating him? How could you not know? It's really easy – 'Do you wanna go out? Yes or no.' Seems pretty clear to me."
"I don't know! All right, we kinda settled that question last night. I'm dating Luke."
"Good. A statement like that I can work with. So, what do you want the outfit to say to him?"
"I don't know. It's a little too soon for 'come and get it,' but it should definitely keep my options open."
"Options open? Mom, you need to be more forthcoming if you want me to help you. What happened last night?"
"Nothing! No, er Luke took me to his sister's wedding. Liz got married in a cute Renaissance ceremony right in the Stars Hollow town square. We went, we laughed, we ate, we danced, and he walked me home. That was it."
"You danced?"
"Yes, we waltzed, Luke can waltz."
"Luke can waltz?"
"Luke can waltz!"
"Look how you said 'Luke can waltz'!"
"I'm just saying I'm surprised that Luke can waltz.
It sounded more like, "I'm surprised I still have my clothes on."
"No, that thought came later."
"Mom! Didn't I tell you to get a grip on yourself!?"
"OK, we got to my house, and I invited him to sit on the porch and have a beer. Then we had the beer and we talked."
"You talked about …? What did you talk about?"
Lorelai grimaced. "I kinda asked him if we were on a date."
"You had to ask him if you were on a date? How could you not know?"
"I don't know how I didn't know. How come I don't know anything about Luke, like you and Sookie and half of Stars Hollow keeps telling me?"
"Mom, at this point I'm beginning to think that you are less a Mensa member than a Densa member. He flirts with you all the time. He constantly fixes things around the house."
"He flirts with every woman, especially the older ones. I might just be a pity flirt. He fixes things because he's being neighborly."
"A pity flirt. You can't possibly think that. For God's sake, he made you a chuppah! You were mooning all summer long about getting married to Max and Luke was off in his workshop carving you a giant wooden arch. Remember the week he spent working outside our house every single day, evenings too? Why did he do that?"
"That was because he was avoiding Rachel."
"And why was he avoiding Rachel?"
"I don't know."
"If you say 'I don't know' one more time, I'll scream. Then I'll put a personal ad in the Stars Hollow newspaper that reads, 'lonely inn owner in search of hunky flannel model' and put your phone number at the bottom. Now, tell me, why was he avoiding Rachel?"
"Because he didn't want to be with her anymore?"
"Good, good. What is the most logical reason he wouldn't want to be with Rachel anymore?"
"Because he was interested in someone else?"
"Yes, and how many beautiful women were in his life at the time excluding Rachel? Who was he giving all of his attention to? Why did he look like he wanted to crawl into the ground when Rachel asked him about your eyes?"
"I don… OK, I'm out. Wait, if that was true, why did he wait so long to ask me out?"
"He didn't wait, he kept trying, but you kept missing it. Hello Helen Keller – you were Cleopatra, queen of Denial. Now reset. What did you talk about after you clarified that you were on a date?"
"We talked about date mode and how to do it. We even worked down my date mode checklist."
"He was still there after you told him about date mode? Kudos to Luke. Then what happened?"
"He explained that he didn't need date mode, because he goes with his gut. That it felt right between us, the evening, everything, he was perfectly comfortable with me. And then we kissed."
"You kissed? A sisterly peck on the cheek? On top of your head? Or 'I'm surprised I still have my clothes on' kiss?"
"The last one. And a lot of it."
"You got lots of practice in?"
"I'm a sure bet for the Kissing Olympics next year."
"Mom, I have two pieces of bad news for you. One, you are not dating Luke."
"I'm not?!"
"No, you are in a relationship with Luke. The relationship he's been asking you to join for years. Get used to it, jump in feet first, go head over heels, ready set go! The other piece of bad news is you have just ten minutes left to get ready. No time to choose the perfect outfit, just cover the naughty bits and run. "
"OhmyGod! I gotta run! Bye sweets!"
"Naughty bits. What covers the naughty bits but still says 'let's play hide and seek' with them? Oh, for God's sake, it's breakfast, not a lap dance."
Lorelai threw on a summery dress, grabbed some sandals and bolted for the diner.
Luke came downstairs with his baking pan and practically threw Jess out of the kitchen, growling, "Go have breakfast!"
"Gotta cook it first."
"OK, but hurry up. Never mind, tell me what you want and I'll fix it. Just make it fast."
"Eggs Benedict with fresh hollandaise sauce."
"Scrambled eggs on toast and bacon. Got it. Go sit."
Jess headed out to the diner and tried to snag his favorite table in the back corner near the kitchen so he could read. The other tables were occupied, hardly a chair was empty.
Luke brought Jess' meal out, looked around the diner, then barked at Jess, "Your breakfast is over here!" He set the plate down at the very table Miss Patty was sitting at. Jess sighed and joined her.
He pulled out his book and started to read, but Patty reached over and took it away from him. "A gentleman keeps a lady entertained at the table with a genteel story. You ain't no gentleman and I ain't no lady, so tell me a story I can laugh at."
Luke looked out the window, then at his watch, then out the window again, then stalked back into the kitchen. Jess could see Lorelai running down the street. About a block away, she stopped, breathing hard. She adjusted her dress, checked her shoes and hair, then walked to the diner with a casual, free-spirited air.
The bells rang as she entered and Luke was immediately in the dining area. Jess got up to get a glass of orange juice and all three met in the middle of the room. Luke and Lorelai, who had been looking only at each other, jerked their heads around when Jess said, "Hi."
"Hi," said Luke to Lorelai in a deep tender voice. To Jess he just gave a dirty look.
"You kids have a good time last night?" Jess teased.
Flustered, Lorelai said "Hi, Jess" normally, then "Hi" to Luke in a softer voice, flipping her hair as she greeted him.
"Excuse me, just getting some juice." As he squeezed by them, he looked at the two of them still standing, hardly looking at each other, but not seeing anyone else. "There's a free table over there in the corner, Lorelai, right next to the kitchen," Jess added. "You want coffee, right?"
"I got the coffee," said Luke who stood aside to let Lorelai pass. He went to the coffee machine and Jess stood next to him, pouring his juice.
"Tie worked out alright, I see," Jess said.
"What? Yeah, great, great. Tie was perfect," replied Luke, carefully choosing a cup and taking it over to pour coffee for Lorelai.
Jess turned and leaned on the counter, looking at Patty. He smiled and gave her a wink. Returning to his table, Jess sat beside Patty, so both of them could watch the action.
Lorelai took a chair facing the back wall. Luke came to the table with the coffee and poured it. As he straightened up, he noticed the number of eyes directed towards their corner.
"Would you mind very much moving over here? I'm not going to be able to take care of you if I have to face all of their stares every time I come over," he said to Lorelai.
"Sure, I'm used to being the butt of the joke, so they can stare at me all they like." Lorelai shrugged as she moved to the chair facing the room.
"How did they even find out? What do they know?" Luke asked, putting his hands on the table and leaning forward a little.
"Jess helped a few of them this morning by repeating every word I said when I called," she said, "but the rest of it we caused all by ourselves."
"Why? What did we do? We were minding our own business."
"Dancing in front of a hundred people in the town square was a good start. It also didn't hurt that two of the party guests appear to be watching our every move. Just look at them sitting over there. It's like they bought tickets to a show. Did you ever see a more unlikely couple?" laughed Lorelai.
Luke looked at Patty and Jess and said, "You! Eat your meals!" Everyone in the diner suddenly put their heads down and focused on their food. He slumped into the chair next to Lorelai. "OK, I see what you mean."
"There was one more thing that might have given them a clue," said Lorelai. "Some people have a sixth sense for detecting 'special moments.' Patty is one of them, and it looks like Jess may be one, too. They were both there when we waltzed, and when we turned and you smiled, well…" She shrugged. "What's a girl to do?"
"It was a good night, wasn't it?" said Luke tenderly. He curled his fingers into hers.
"The best," she whispered.
Standing up, Luke asked, "Pancakes for you?"
"Pancakes sound great. Thanks."
He tapped his knuckles on her table, then headed back to the kitchen. She could hear him chatting with Caesar, talking about pineapple as he cooked her pancakes, then he told Caesar he was going on a break and to call him if he was needed.
Luke brought out a plate full of large yellow flowers and placed it in front of Lorelai. She looked down and could see her pancakes buried beneath a flowery blanket.
"How beautiful!" she exclaimed. "What are they?"
"They're pineapple flowers," Luke replied.
"I didn't know pineapples had such big flowers."
"They don't. Pineapples have tiny flowers that grow out of those little hard places on the outside of the pineapple. These flowers I made from slices of fresh pineapple this morning."
"But they're curly and pretty and brown on the edges. Are they going bad?" asked Lorelai.
"No, I put them in the oven so they would curl up real pretty and get brown on the edges. Try one. I'll go get myself a cup of tea and take a break with you while you eat."
Once the crowd realized there wasn't going to be any drama, they filtered out of the diner. Jess kept his eye on the customers while Miss Patty regaled him with stories of her youth. She had him laughing over and over.
"I don't think I've ever heard Jess laugh," commented Lorelai to Luke as he sat down next to her. "That's a sweet sound. And to see him carry on a conversation with Miss Patty, amazing."
"Yeah, it doesn't happen very often. Makes it all the better when you do hear it."
"Now these flowers are delicious. I'm loving this breakfast," said Lorelai. "I'll remember this all day when I'm slogging away at the Dragonfly."
"That is one of the downsides to being a business owner. You get to work all you can, then you get to work some more. There's always a new idea popping into my head, and so little time to make it happen. Still, it's better than working for someone else." Luke took a flower and munched on it as Lorelai finally worked her way down to the pancakes.
"You're coming to the test run, right? I've got a room reserved for you," asked Lorelai.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world. Doesn't your computer system have my reservation?"
"Oh, I'm sure it does, it's just nice to hear it from your lips," she flirted.
"Did you talk to Rory? I'd hate for her to hear a bunch of rumors before she hears it from you, and judging by the spike in my business this morning it's just a matter of time before someone tells her."
"Yes, I talked to her this morning. We're good," said Lorelai.
"Do you mean 'We're good' you and me with Rory? Or 'we're good' you and Rory? Or what?" Luke asked.
"She's good with all of it. By the way, she told me we weren't dating."
"She doesn't want us to date? That could be a problem, because I want to date you," he said, shifting in his seat a bit.
"No, that's not what she meant. She meant that we're already in a relationship, we're not 'just' dating. And she's good with that. I think she's kinda glad to have someone to share the burden of dealing with me. I stressed her a little when I called this morning."
"Did you tell her what kind of a relationship we're in? Is it a not 'not friends' relationship? Or some other kind of relationship?" Luke smiled.
Lorelai said, "I told her we're just going with the gut thing and will see where it leads."
"Sounds good to me," said Luke. "How does the crowd behind us look? Think we can sneak in a little kiss before I get back to work?"
"Tell you what. Let's turn your hat just a little sideways, just like this. It nicely blocks Patty's view, and…" Luke leaned in for a quick, deep kiss.
"Call me later?" she asked.
"You bet," he replied with a wink.
Lorelai made for the door at double speed, while Patty and Jess stared after her.